On Tuesday, Lungu said he had dropped Scott from the position of party vice president after Scott called for election nomination papers not to be accepted until the court resolved the dispute.

The split erupted after Sata’s death in October, when vice president Scott took over as interim president and sacked Lungu as secretary general of the party—before reversing the decision after riots broke out.

“Dr Scott hates me for one reason or another,” Lungu told supporters after launching his own presidential bid. “It’s like Dr Scott wants the party to die.”

Scott told delegates at a party conference to ignore Lungu’s candidacy, and Sampa was elected over four other candidates including Sata’s widow Christine.

Scott cannot stand for the presidency himself as his parents were not born in Zambia.

He said in his statement Wednesday that while he would not resign, he would ensure there was a smooth transfer of power in the country.